THUD Bill Drastically Cuts Vital Infrastructure and Housing Program

Washington - Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) speaks out against drastic cuts to infrastructure and housing programs made in the FY 2014 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill.

Below is a video and a transcript of this speech:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I became a member of the Appropriations Committee this Congress to make the tough funding choices that determine our national priorities. But this year's budget allocations have taken those choices away from us. This bill is being touted as a budgetary trade-off, but there are no trade offs in this bill, there are only cuts. Investments in our infrastructure are needed more than ever, yet this bill makes some of the most significant cuts to vital transportation programs in decades.

We all remember the Recovery Act. Interesting fact about the recovery act: about six or seven percent of that bill dealt with infrastructure. But that six or seven percent of that bill created about two-thirds of the jobs that the Act created. Unfortunately in this bill, there's no funding for TIGER grants, which fund infrastructure projects like the Elgin-O'Hare Western Access Project in my district. No funding for Core Capacity Grants to fund desperately needed improvements to transit systems like the Chicago Transit Authority.

Instead of increasing safety and capacity in air travel, we're slashing funding to the FAA's air traffic control modernization program. Instead of expanding rail service, we're cutting Amtrak's capital program by 37 percent. And the housing numbers are even worse. This bill cuts funding to housing programs that not only work but have a proven record of saving the taxpayer money. No funding for the Choice Neighborhood Program, which helps communities revitalize distressed neighborhoods.

Significant cuts to the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Program, which is used to house some of the most vulnerable among us, and also another program which saves money. Community Development Block Grants, used by communities across the country have been cut in half and are at their lowest levels since the Ford Administration. We're cutting investments in our future and essential services to those in need to pay for bloated defense spending the Pentagon often itself says it doesn't need.

In the final analysis, countries that succeed invest in research, education, and infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, we are cutting all three. I joined this committee to make the smart funding choices that will propel our nation forward, but this bill does just the opposite. I urge my colleagues to vote no, and I yield back.